Page 30 of Broken Skulls

“What was it about her?” he asks.

My gaze drifts to the dragonfly on his refrigerator. It warmed my heart when I noticed it there this morning. He didn’t have to ask if it was special to me … he knew.

He has me.

“She could have hated me for the things I did to the man she loves, but instead she showed me kindness.”

“She’s just like her mother,” Jacob says, shaking his head.

His hair falls in his eyes. I shove my hands under my legs to keep from reaching out and brushing it away.

“Sweetest damn woman I’ve ever met.”

Two things stand out to me in his response. One, he readily accepted my answer without immediately firing off another question. I like that. Two, he admitted his affection for his female friend without fear of me getting jealous.

Although, why would I be jealous? We’re not a couple.

“I’m sorry I hung up on you when I called.” I dip my head, letting my hair fall over my face.

He laughs. “You wanted Dan’s number, and when I gave it to you, you were done talking. No worries. I wasn’t offended.”

“How did you find me?” I ask, my heart beating fast as I wait for his response.

His boyish smile fades and his gaze darkens. The blue ring around his pupils reminds me of that dark blue space just above the ocean along the horizon. The place that captivates you with fantasies of what’s beyond. It’s dark, taunting …

“You know that old saying? It’s not the cards you’re dealt, it’s how you play them?”

I give him a nod.

He leans forward, resting his arms on the table. “Well, I decided I was done playing.”

When I don’t say anything, he continues.

“I gave the nursing home my number that day, too. They called me when you went missing. So, I started asking questions. Lucky for me, I asked the right people the right questions, and I caught up with you at your parents.”

“But …” The gears in my mind might be working slowly, but they are turning. If he found me in Iowa, that means …

My stomach flips and I try to slide away from the table, but he wraps his ankle around the chair leg preventing my escape.

“I followed you to the beach,” he continues. His gaze holds mine hostage, and an entire silent conversation passes between the two of us.

He saw everything.

“Your secret is safe with me.” He reaches across the table and wraps his fingers around my neck, pulling us nose to nose. “I would die protecting it.”

He turns my face, so that I’m facing the dragonfly painting he pinned to his refrigerator. “You are mine, and everything that is yours is mine.”

What he is saying should scare me. Everything that he’s done should scare me …

But it’s everything I’ve prayed for.

I pull away from him, and his hand slowly falls down my frame.

We stare at each other, and this time I manage to push my chair back. I stand.

“Run!” the little voice inside my head screams.

He pushes his chair back too, his muscles tense. He’s going to chase me if I run.

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